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CHAPTERNINE
Della was shaking.
She’d run out of that chapel as fast as her heels could carry her. With nowhere to go, she’d come back to the bus, figuring she’d pack up and stay the night in a hotel, give them all some space.
She’d barely gotten her bags packed when the brothers had boarded.
And now they were having it out right there in the lounge. What was she supposed to do? Walk past them with her suitcase and wave bye-bye? Catch ya later.
No, she was stuck eavesdropping on a very private conversation.
“Don’t pretend you’re brokenhearted, man,” Van said. “I know you. You don’t love Mary. You never have.”
“You’re missing the fucking point. I hurt her, asshole. Didn’t you hear what she said? I broke her heart.”
“That would suck if her heart was involved, but it was never like that between you two. What you broke were her future plans. Now, I’m asking you seriously. Did you love Mary-Therese?”
“Of course, I did.”
“Jesus, Bex. You know what I’m asking. Were you ever in love with her? Because you weren’t exactly doodling her name when you first met. In fact, it was a couple of months before I even figured out you were dating someone.”
“How am I supposed to have the kind of love you’re talking about? I’m on the road three hundred days a year. And she never visits. Our entire relationship is played out through texts and FaceTime.”
How had that ever been enough for him? She knew him. He needed so much more.
“Okay, and with Della?” Van asked.
She jolted at the sound of her name, desperate for Bex’s answer.
“Do you even know how many times you’ve texted me about her?” Van asked. “Della said this, Della thinks that. And when I’m in the room with the two of you? Sparks are flying everywhere.”
They are. They really are.
“Of course, I have feelings for her. Strong ones. She’s fucking amazing. But Mary and I…I just had it in my head that we’d have a home and a yard and dogs and kids. How does it make sense to blow all that up for someone I just met?”
“Because that someone woke you the fuck up. She showed you the difference between the wrong kind of love and the right kind. You’ve been on autopilot for years. Then, Della comes along and shows you everything you’ve been missing. So, yes, that’s exactly why you end it with Mary. When you see what your future would look like with her compared to what it’ll look like with someone like Della.”
No, not someone like Della.
With me.
She hadn’t dared dream it before, but she could imagine her life with Bex, and it was rich and deep and intense, filled with laughter and very, very hot sex. He would be amazing in bed. Because he cared. Because he saw her. Because her happiness mattered to him.
‘Look, it sucks to break up with someone you’ve been with so long. I get that—” Van began.
“How? How would you know that? You don’t have relationships.”
“Yeah, that’s because I’m on the road three hundred fucking days a year, too. Only, unlike you, I need to spend actual time with someone in order to fall in love with them. Jesus, Bex, I need more than this life we’re living. I need…”
“What?” Bex sounded concerned. “What do you need?”
“I get up every single day to live a life that’s not mine. I did it because we needed the money, and I continued to do it because it worked, and it made everybody happy.”
“But?”
“But I don’t want to go through the motions anymore.”
“What do you want?”
